Attitudes of general education teachers toward including students with special needs

Transcription

1 Graduate Theses and Dissertations Graduate College 2009 Attitudes of general education teachers toward including students with special needs Tracy Lynn Cagney Iowa State University Follow this and additional works at: Part of the Curriculum and Instruction Commons Recommended Citation Cagney, Tracy Lynn, "Attitudes of general education teachers toward including students with special needs" (2009). Graduate Theses and Dissertations This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate College at Iowa State University Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Iowa State University Digital Repository. For more information, please contact

2 Attitudes of general education teachers toward including students with special needs by Tracy Lynn Cagney A thesis submitted to the graduate faculty in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE Major: Education (Special Education) Program of Study Committee: Patricia M. Carlson, Major Professor Linda Lind Carl Roberts Iowa State University Ames, Iowa 2009 Copyright Tracy Lynn Cagney, All rights reserved.

3 ii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES ABSTRACT iii iv CHAPTER 1.INTRODUCTION 1 CHAPTER 2. REVIEW OF LITERATURE 9 CHAPTER 3. METHODS AND PROCEDURES 27 CHAPTER 4. RESULTS 36 CHAPTER 5. SUMMARY AND DISCUSSION 51 APPENDIX A. SURVEY 68 APPENDIX B. INFORMED CONSENT 72 APPENDIX C. S 75 BIBLIOGRAPHY 77

4 iii LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Description of School Districts in Study 28 Table 2. Coding of Positive and Negative Statements 34 Table 3. Characteristics of Respondents 38 Table 4. Descriptive Statistics on Survey Statements and Overall 39 Attitude Score Table 5. t-test Results Between General Education Teachers With 42 and Without Training for Overall Attitude Table 6. t-test Results Between General Education Teachers With 42 and Without Training for Selected Statements Table 7. Analysis of Variance Overall Attitude Score by Years of 43 Teaching Experience Table 8. Bonferroni Analysis of Variance for Statement 15 Overall 44 Attitude Score by Years of Teaching Experience Table 9. Bonferroni Analysis of Variance for Statement 15 Overall 44 Attitude Score by Years of Teaching Experience Between Groups Table 10. t-test Results Between General Education Teachers with 46 Students with Special Needs in the Classroom and General Education Teachers without for Overall Attitude Table 11. t-test Results Between Male and Female General Education 46 Teachers for Overall Attitude Table 12. t-test Results Between Male and Female General Education 47 Teachers for Selected Statements Table 13. Analysis of Variance Overall Attitude Score by Curricular 48 Area Taught Table 14. t-test Results Between Type of Class Taught for Overall Attitude 49 Table 15. t-test Results Between General Education Teachers Who Teach 50 Required Courses and Those Who Teach Elective Courses for Selected Statements

5 iv ABSTRACT Due to the recent push towards inclusion, many students with special needs are finding themselves in the general education classroom. Research has shown that students success in classes is affected by their teachers attitudes towards having them in there. This study takes a closer look at high school general education teachers attitudes, in the state of Iowa, towards working with students with special needs in the general education classroom.

6 1 CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION Sec Free appropriate public education (FAPE). (a) General. A free appropriate public education must be available to all children residing in the State between the ages of 3 and 21,inclusive, including children with disabilities who have been suspended or expelled from school, as provided for in Sec (d) (IDEA, 2004). Background Prior to President Ford s of signing the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (EAHCA) on November 29, 1975, students with disabilities were frequently excluded from public schools, and/or educated in programs that failed to meet their individual needs. In 1975, Congress estimated approximately 1.75 million students with disabilities were being denied education in public schools, and another 2.2 million students with disabilities were not receiving an education that appropriately met their individual needs (Yell, 2006). These astronomical numbers, along with numerous court cases brought against school districts and states refusing to educate students with disabilities, specifically Pennsylvania Association for Retarded Citizens v. Pennsylvania and Mills v. District of Columbia Board of Education, caused the government to reexamine the current public education system. The enactment of EAHCA, followed by the amendment to the act in 1990, which renamed EACHA the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), mandated schools provide all students with disabilities a free and appropriate education (FAPE) in the least restrictive environment (LRE). According to IDEA, which was again amended in 2004, when it comes to educating students with disabilities in the least restrictive environment (LRE): (2) Each public agency must ensure that

7 2 (i) To the maximum extent appropriate, children with disabilities, including children in public or private institutions or other care facilities, are educated with children who are non-disabled and; (ii) Special classes, separate schooling, or other removal of children with disabilities from the regular educational environment occurs only if the nature or severity of the disability is such that education in regular classes with use of supplemental aids and services cannot be achieved satisfactorily. ( (a) (2) (i) (ii)) (IDEA, 2004). This mandate, still a staple in special education law today, does not come without incentive. Government funding for educating students with disabilities is dependent on the compliance of states and school districts to uphold and carry through the substantive and procedural provisions of the act. These provisions can be divided into the eight subcategories that follow: (a) zero reject, (b) identification and evaluation, (c) free and appropriate public education, (d) least restrictive environment, (e) procedural safeguards, (f) technology-related assistance, (g) personnel development, and (h) parental participation (Yell, 2006). While no subcategory is more important than the other, it is subcategory C (free and appropriate public education) and subcategory D (least restrictive environment) that have come under much scrutiny and have also provided educators and administrators with great challenges. Determining appropriateness and least restrictive environment can often be a difficult challenge, as varying people have varying opinions about what is best for different students. Despite these differing thoughts, the law remains the law. Against the wishes of some educators, this law opens the door for students with special needs to enter their classroom. While this mandate may provide students with special needs the opportunity to be educated alongside their non-disabled peers, it does not guarantee students with special needs they will be welcomed. Since the enactment of IDEA, and its previously named mandate EACHA, studies have indicated some general education teachers

8 3 at the high school level do not possess positive attitudes towards educating students with special needs in their classrooms. Specifically, studies have shown certain qualities, such as gender, years of teaching experience, number of special education training courses taken, and number of students with special needs in the classroom can affect the attitudes general education teachers have towards educating students with special needs in their classrooms. Therefore, the problem not only lies with providing students with special needs a free and appropriate education in the least restrictive environment, but making sure the education students with special needs are receiving is not being negatively impacted by their general education teachers' attitudes. Purpose The purpose of this study was to examine high school general education teachers attitudes about educating students with special needs in their classrooms and ascertain whether those attitudes were impacted by gender, number of years of teaching experience, curricular area taught, type of classes taught (required or elective), if a required course specifically designed for working with students with special needs in college was taken, and the number of students with special needs in the classroom. Specifically, the goal of this study was to determine what, if any, demographic factors impacted general education teachers attitudes towards educating students with special needs in their classrooms. For the purpose of this study the operational definition of attitudes is the feelings or way of thinking a person has about something or someone, which ultimately affects his/her behavior towards that person or object. In theory, a general education teachers attitude towards inclusion (the integration of special education students into the general education classrooms) would affect the way in which they behave towards students with special needs.

9 4 A general education teacher is defined as someone who is licensed to teach a specific curricular area, such as English, math, science, social studies, and physical education, or extra curricular area, such as foreign language, home economics, choir, band, etc., to elementary, middle school, and/or high school students. A required class is defined as a class/subject that is mandatory for high school students to take in order to graduate. An elective class is defined as a class that is not required for students to take in order to graduate, but is provided as an option for students to take in order to meet the credit requirements of graduation. A special education teacher is defined as someone who is licensed to teach students with special needs at the elementary, middle school, or high school level. A student with special needs is defined as an individual between the ages of 5 and 21 who has been identified as having a disability in accordance with IDEA. Students with special needs are also students who have an Individual Education Plan, which is an individualized plan developed to meet the individual needs of the student. Research Questions and Hypotheses This study was fueled by the over arching question, how do general education teachers feel about having students with special needs in their classrooms? Specifically, the following six research questions guided this study, and the following six hypotheses were tested in this study: 1) Is there a difference in general education teachers attitudes towards having students with special needs in the general education classroom based on those who have taken a college course specifically designed for working with students with special needs

10 5 versus those who have not taken a college course specifically designed for working with students with special needs? Hypotheses 1: General education teachers who have taken a college course specifically designed for working with students with special needs will have more positive attitudes towards working with students with special needs in the general education classroom than general education teachers who have not taken a required course specifically designed for working with students with special needs in college. 2) Is there a difference in general education teachers attitudes towards having students with special needs in the general education classroom based on number of years of teaching experience? Hypotheses 2: General education teachers with more years of teaching experience will have more negative attitudes towards working with students with special needs in the general education classroom than general education teachers with fewer years of teaching experience. 3) Is there a difference in general education teachers attitudes towards working with students with special needs in the general education classroom based on how many students with special needs general education teachers typically have in a year in their classrooms? Hypotheses 3: General education teachers who have more students with special needs in their classrooms will have more negative attitudes towards working with students with special needs in the general education classroom than general education teachers who do not frequently have students with special needs in their classrooms.

11 6 4) Is there a difference between male and female general education teachers attitudes towards having students with special needs in their classrooms? Hypotheses 4: Male general education teachers will have more negative attitudes towards working with students with special needs in the general education classrooms than female general education teachers. 5) Is there a difference in general education teachers attitudes towards working with students with special needs based on their curricular area taught (i.e. Math, English, Social Studies, Science, Physical Education, and Other)? Hypotheses 5: General education teachers who teach Social Studies and Science will have more negative attitudes towards educating students with special needs in the general education classroom than general education teachers who teach Math, English, and Physical Education. 6) Is there a difference in general education teachers attitudes towards working with students with special needs in the general education classroom based on the type of classes taught (i.e. required courses or electives courses)? Hypotheses 6: General education teachers who teach required classes will have a more negative attitude towards working with students with special needs in the general education classroom than general education teachers who teach elective classes. Rationale The main focus of this study was on general education teachers attitudes towards having students with special needs in the general education classroom. Although we would like to believe all students are thought of equally and favorably, the truth of the matter is they are not. Studies have shown when it comes to educating students in a general education

12 7 setting, students with special needs are frequently less favored in the classroom. As it turns out, studies have also shown that general education teachers at all levels, especially those at the secondary level, tend to have more negative attitudes towards working with students with special needs in the general education classroom. One must look to determine if there is a relationship between general education teachers attitudes toward working with students with special needs and specific demographic information. The specific demographic information looked at in this study were: gender, years of teaching experience, content area taught, type of class taught (elective vs. required), the completion of a college course specifically designed for working with students with special needs, and the number of students with special needs in a general education teachers classroom. If there is a relationship between general education teachers attitudes towards working with students with special needs in the general education classroom and specific demographic information, then one may conclude not all general education teachers feel the same about working with students with special needs in their classrooms, and the placement of these students in specific general education teachers classrooms may need to be reconsidered. Significance of Study The objective of this study is to examine high school general education teachers attitudes about having students with special needs in their classrooms and whether those attitudes are impacted by gender, number of years of teaching experience, curricular area taught, type of class taught (required or elective), the completion of a college course specifically designed for working with students with special needs, and the number of students with special needs in a general education teachers classroom.

13 8 This study is significant because the knowledge gained provides insight into the current attitudes of general education teachers concerning the inclusion of students with disabilities. The knowledge also provides for possible reasons for general education teachers attitudes and ascertains whether special attributes (gender, number of years of teaching experience, curricular area taught, type of class taught, the completion of a college course specifically designed for working with students with special needs, and the number of students with special needs in a general education teachers classroom) impact attitudes. In addition, the results of this study can help educators address the reasons or issues identified, in order to better serve general education teachers and students with special needs.

14 9 CHAPTER 2. LITERATURE REVIEW The desire for all students to be educationally successful is by no means a recent concept. It is, however, a recent legislative mandate. No Child Left Behind (NCLB), initially implemented in 2001 by former President George W. Bush, was established as a means to ensure that all children have a fair, equal, and significant opportunity to obtain a high-quality education and reach, at a minimum, proficiency on challenging State academic achievement standards and state academic assessments. (Section.1001.Statement of Purpose) (IDEA, 2004). The all mentioned in the afore quoted subpart of NCLB is inclusive to every student, regardless of race, gender, social economic status, and intellectual ability. This inclusive all has come a long way since President Ford s signing of the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (EAHCA) in Prior to the implementation of EACHA, now renamed the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), individuals with special needs were frequently excluded from public schools and/or educated in programs that failed to meet their needs. These injustices prompted many families of students with special needs, and agencies who worked with individuals with special needs, to seek legal action. Most famously, the Pennsylvania Association for Retarded Citizens (PARC) v. Pennsylvania and the Mills v. District of Columbia Board of Education court cases prompted the federal government to take a closer look at the services provided to individuals with special needs. The federal government s investigation of the educational treatment of students with special needs as a whole resulted in the demand for schools to fully educate EVERY student in the least restrictive environment in return for federal funding.

15 10 According to the law established in IDEA, when it comes to educating students with special needs in the least restrictive environment (LRE): (2) Each public agency must ensure that (i) To the maximum extent appropriate, children with disabilities, including children in public or private institutions or other care facilities, are educated with children who are non-disabled and; (ii) Special classes, separate schooling, or other removal of children with disabilities from the regular educational environment occurs only if the nature or severity of the disability is such that education in regular classes with use of supplemental aids and services cannot be achieved satisfactorily. ( (a) (2) (i) (ii)) (IDEA, 2004). In accordance with the law, students with special needs are not only being educated in the public schools, but are being educated in general education classrooms beside their nondisabled peers. This integration of students with special needs into general education classrooms has come to be known as inclusion, a term and movement that has many general education teachers and parents questioning its benefits and affect on all students. While inclusion may not be the best fit for every student with special needs, if well planned it can provide some gains, both developmentally and socially, for those students included in the general education classroom (Etscheidt, 2006). This being said, it is important for educators and parents to consider each individual student, and his/her special needs (both academically and socially), before deciding to integrate him/her into the general education classroom. For some students with special needs, inclusion may not be the best fit, as more specific skills are necessary for the student to be successful in post secondary living, learning, and working. These skills, such as life skills (i.e. cooking, cleaning, grocery shopping, etc.) cannot always be taught in the general education setting. For other students with special needs, inclusion may not be an appropriate placement due to behaviors or disabilities that inhibit the education of others (Hastings & Oakford,

16 , p. 88). It is not ironic then, it is these students who are more often viewed less positively by general education teachers as welcomed guests in their classrooms (Hastings & Oakford, 2003; Johnson, 2001). In fact, it is the students who are seen as being less demanding, or are believed to have less severe needs, that general education teachers prefer to have in their classrooms (Hastings & Oakford, 2003). In particular, it is students who are classified as being mentally retarded and emotionally disturbed that general education teachers feel should be segregated into their own classrooms (Johnson, 2001). Students who have been identified as being learning disabled, educable mentally retarded, and emotionally disturbed, are those typically shown to significantly benefit from inclusion (Johnson, 2001). Unfortunately, the amount of success students with special needs can have from inclusion heavily relies on general education teachers attitudes towards them (Weisel & Tur-Kaspa, 2002). Not only do general education teachers attitudes affect the success of students with special needs, but research is available which implies that teachers attitudes can have a detrimental effect on handicapped students psychological and educational adjustment to the regular classroom (Johnson, 2001, p. 230). Teachers attitudes can be made apparent to all students through their actions and interactions with individuals in the classroom. Typically, teachers tend to provide more positive feedback to higher achieving students and also tend to have higher expectations for these students as well. Students who are considered lower achieving tend to have less contact with the general education teachers all together, and what little contact they do have is usually not positive (Johnson, 2001).

17 12 Research Question/Hypotheses 1 - Training In comparison to elementary teachers, who have more positive attitudes towards inclusion, high school teachers tend to have a more negative attitude towards including students with special needs into their classrooms. A study conducted by Zigmond, Levin, and Laurie (1985), which consisted partially of a survey of attitudes of mainstream high school teachers, indicated secondary teachers were tolerant of the thought of placing students with special needs in their classrooms, but ultimately would prefer not to include them. This preference is due in large part to the set up of high schools in general, which normally consists of a large number of students within teachers classrooms. Unlike elementary teachers, high school teachers work with a large number of students in multiple classes throughout the day. They also teach in a didactic manner, which is directed to a large group, rather than to individual students (Van Reusen, Soho, & Barker, 2001). Students with special needs frequently require individual instructional contact time, a need that cannot always be met in the general education setting due not only to a large number of students present, but to general education teachers general lack of knowledge in regard to educating students with special needs. General education teachers are trained as content area specialists, equipped with knowledge about their area of expertise. What not all general education teachers are equipped with, are the skills and strategies to be sure ALL students grasp the knowledge they provide. Specifically, general education teachers are not trained in how to make appropriate modifications and accommodations to meet the individual needs of students with special needs. Without this training, general education teachers doubt their ability to educate and meet the needs of students with special needs in their classroom. This doubt in ability affects

18 13 general education teachers attitudes towards educating students with special needs in their classrooms. Training in special education for general education teachers is more of a recent phenomenon. Within the last twelve years a college course on educating students with special needs has become a requirement for earning a teaching degree. This requirement leaves some of our current educators unfamiliar and untrained on how to successfully educate students with special needs. Specifically, general education teachers struggle greatly with making and implementing meaningful and purposeful accommodations and modifications for students with special needs. Research conducted by Bender, Vail, and Scott (1995) indicated general education teachers are not implementing modified instruction that would benefit students with learning disabilities in their classrooms. Another study, conducted by Leyser and Tappendorf (2001), focused primarily on the types of accommodations and modifications general education teachers reported using in their classrooms to meet the needs of students with special needs. Like Bender, Vail, and Scott(1995), Lesyer and Tappendorf (2001) also found the types of strategies that would benefit students with special needs, such as adaptations to tests and assignments, cooperative learning groups, and alternative teaching strategies, were the strategies teachers reported using least often. If teachers are not using strategies that benefit students with special needs, then no doubt these students will not be successful in the general education classroom. If success is not evident, it is no wonder many general education teachers question the presence of these students in their classrooms. In the same study by Lesyer and Tappendorf (2001) mentioned above, general education teachers reported using very often and quite often, strategies that allowed them to

19 14 remain in control of the class and hold students self-accountable. Neither of these strategies are known to be successful with educating students with special needs, and one might wonder if these strategies are successful with educating most students. If all general education teachers were trained on how to educate students with special needs, and implemented the training they were given, then they would be providing students with special needs the opportunity to thrive in the general education setting. If adequate training were provided, then general education teachers would have the ability to teach a wide range of ability levels in their classrooms. Unfortunately, this is not the case, as many high school teachers teach to students who are in the middle (Van Reusen, Soho, & Barker, 2001). By teaching to the middle, general education teachers are excluding those students who are often thought of as talent and gifted, and those who are normally classified as having special needs. General education teachers lack of training in working with students with special needs is not only a disadvantage to these students in the sense they are not given the opportunity to demonstrate their full potential, but it is also a disadvantage to them in the sense the amount of training a general education teacher has, has been linked to general education teachers overall attitudes towards working with students with special needs. As mentioned above, general education teachers attitudes have been shown to have an effect on students with special needs success in general education classrooms. In a study conducted by Van Reusen, Soho, and Barker (2001), results indicated that teachers attitudes about inclusion were related to their special education training and their experience with working with students with special needs. In this study, over half of the teachers surveyed obtained negative scores about educating students with special needs in

20 15 their classrooms. Specifically, the teachers with the most negative attitudes were the ones who had the least amount of training and experience with working with students with special needs. The teachers with more negative attitudes expressed their concern with the impact students with special needs would have on their classroom environment, their ability to instruct, and the overall quality of learning. A similar study, conducted by Bender, Vail, and Scott (1995), mentioned earlier, had similar findings to Van Reusen, Soho, and Barker s (2001) study, in that general education teachers attitudes towards mainstreaming correlated with the number of courses taken on working with students with special needs. Specifically, they found the more courses teachers had on working with students with special needs, the more positive their attitudes (Bender, Vail, & Scott, 1995). Leyser and Tappendorf s (2001) study took a closer look at teachers attitudes towards inclusion based on numbers of classes taken. Specifically, Leyser and Tappendorf looked at teachers attitudes who had taken 3-6 courses, 1-2 courses, and no courses. The results of their study indicated it was those teachers who had taken 3-6 (or more) courses that had significantly more positive attitudes than those who had taken 1-2 (or no) courses. Surprisingly, their study also indicated there was no significant difference in attitudes between those who had taken 1-2 courses and no courses. If these results are applicable, then it seems that completing a requirement to enroll mainly in one course on exceptional children which generally covers introductory content (e.g. characteristics, some assessment, teaching strategies, and the law), does not prepare participants and develop the necessary mainstreaming instructional skills (p. 758). If one course does not provide teachers with the

21 16 necessary skills, then the trend requiring a single college course on working with students with special needs is virtually useless. An additional study conducted by Pernell, McIntyre, and Bader (2001) had somewhat similar findings. In this particular study, the focus was on how teachers attitudes towards inclusion progressed through the completion of a course on working with students with special needs. The study looked at general education teachers attitudes towards inclusion at various points throughout the course. As expected, general education teachers initial attitudes towards inclusion ranged from negative to neutral. Some teachers with negative attitudes had feelings that the special education teachers wanted them to share in their trouble, which is why they felt students with special needs were in their classrooms. As the training course progressed, teachers attitudes towards including students with special needs in their classrooms became more positive. Based on the literature, one could hypothesize general education teachers with training specific to teaching students with disabilities would have more positive attitudes towards having these students included in their classrooms. While Leyser and Tappendorf (2001) found there was no significant difference in attitudes between teachers who had taken one or two courses related to special education and those who had taken no course, other researchers found training in and experience with working with students in need of special education services impacted the attitudes of general education teachers (Bender, Vail, & Scott, 1995; Pernell, McIntyre, & Baker, 2001; Van Reusen, Soho, & Barker, 2001).

22 17 Research Question/Hypotheses 2 - Years of Teaching Experience Similar to training, teachers attitudes towards working with students with special needs have been shown to correlate with the amount of teaching experience a teacher has. In some sense, years of experience can be linked to training. As mentioned earlier, only one course on educating students with special needs is required in college to obtain a teaching license. Because this requirement is only years old, teachers who have taught less than 15 years have been exposed to such courses. This makes those educators who have been in the teaching field longer less likely to have taken any courses on working with students with special needs. Therefore, those with more teaching experience and less training are those who are more likely to have negative attitudes towards working with students with special needs. A study conducted by Hastings and Oakford (2003) revealed that teachers with more teaching experience did in fact have more negative attitudes towards inclusion than those who had less teaching experience. While there is not a great deal of literature that indicates general education teachers with more teaching experience have more negative attitudes about having students with special needs included in their classroom, the literature reviewed here allows one to hypothesize this statement would be true. Research Question/Hypotheses 3 - Number of Students with Special Needs in the General Education Classroom Lack of training and experience may affect teachers beliefs about their ability to educate students with special needs in the general education classroom. In fact, many general education teachers question their ability to teach students with special needs while at the same time teaching general education students (Pernell, McIntyre, & Bader, 2001). The fear of being able to educate the two groups of students at the same time may only be half the

23 18 problem, as general education teachers are also trying to teach their content area to their students, while also meeting the other pressures and demands placed on them by society, the school, and the state. High school general education teachers are faced with the everyday pressures of educating students. Specifically, high school teachers are expected to provide quality learning opportunities and instruction sufficient to enable all students to learn advanced or complex curricula as well as to demonstrate academic excellence as delineated in national, state, and district goals measured by student performance on standardized tests (Van Reusen, Soho &, Barker, 2001, p. 8). This is no easy task, as even without students with special needs in their classrooms, general education teachers are already faced with a wide range of learning levels among their students. More recently, teachers are being faced with meeting the expectations set out by No Child Left Behind (NCLB), which mandates all children will be proficient in the areas of Reading, Math, and Science by the year Proficiency is determined by standardized tests, something to which teachers are discouraged to teach to. The pressure to meet the expectations set by NCLB is extremely high, as teachers are presented with the possibility of school closures and potential loss of jobs. Not that proficiency is unattainable for students with special needs, but as mentioned before, general education teachers are not trained on how to best educate these students, and therefore, may not want to be held responsible for their test scores. On top of meeting state and national expectations, high school teachers are also expected to prepare all students to meet graduation requirements and to acquire the necessary academic, cognitive, social, and technological skills required for successful and

24 19 productive independent living along with entry into colleges, universities, or the work force (Van Reusen, Soho, & Barker, 2001, p. 8). Like everything else mentioned, this task is made additionally taxing with more students and wider learning ranges. Lastly, high school teachers also are responsible for preparing students to be contributing citizens and active members of society. This task in itself is no easy feat, as society is ever changing. Teachers need to continuously re-vamp and re-create lessons and activities to prepare students with 21 st century skills. The mounting pressures general education teachers face in their everyday lives may lessen their likelihood of wanting to take on the additional task of educating students with special needs. If including students with special needs in the general education setting is seen as additional work and pressure, then why would general education teachers want to be bothered with taking on more? With all that is already on high school teachers plates, many high school teachers do not want to add the additional responsibility of educating students with special needs in their classrooms. Simply planning for educating students with special needs takes a lot of time, time many general education teachers simply do not feel like they have. Many general teachers fear they will not be given enough time to plan, or not be given the necessary support or resources to ensure inclusion is successful (Van Reusen, Soho, & Barker, 2001). In order to successfully implement full inclusion, teachers feel they need at least an hour per day for planning, on-going in-service training, and access to personal and material resources (Van Reusen, Soho, & Barker, 2001). These needs are not unjustified. The additional work educating students with special needs in the general education classrooms includes, among other things, pre, during, and post testing to determine

25 20 current academic ability, finding additional and/or supplementary materials, modifying and accommodating instruction and assignments, determining the best teaching style and technique to meet the students individualized education plan (IEP) and behavior intervention plan (BIP), and collaboratively working with special education teachers and paraprofessionals (Johnson, 2001). In a study conducted by Zigmond, Levin, and Laurie (1985) on general education teachers attitudes towards inclusion, over sixty percent of the surveyed teachers indicated having students with learning disabilities in their classrooms added additional demands on them. Specifically, they felt students with learning disabilities required more attention, more extensive lesson preparation, more time for contact with the special education resource staff, and more adjustments in the grading policy. Teachers who have multiple numbers of students with special needs in their classroom, with a range of disabilities, will require more additional planning than those teachers who have fewer numbers of students with special needs in their classrooms. While the study conducted by Zigmond, Levin, and Laurie (1985) reflects general education teachers feelings about the amount of extra work students who are classified as being learning disabled (LD) cause them, it does not reflect general education teachers feelings about the additional planning that would be needed to educate students who are classified as mentally retarded (MR), behavior disordered (BD) and emotionally disturbed (ED). The uniqueness and individuality of each student with special needs, will affect the amount of time and planning general education teachers will need to successfully educate the students in their classroom. It will also dictate the amount of time needed for general education teachers to collaborate with special education teachers.

26 21 While not all students are classified with labels or diagnoses, such as LD, BD, ED, or MR, many teachers have preconceived notions and perceptions about ALL students with special needs. To some general education teachers, the classification of special needs is enough to turn them off to the idea of educating these students in their classrooms. What teachers with preconceived notions about students with special needs fail to realize, is the student is a person regardless of his/her diagnosis. As diagnostic labels currently exist, they describe only negative aspects of the person s life and do not elucidate human strength or the process of human change (Lopez, Edwards, Pedrotti, Prosser, LaRue, Spalitto, & Ulven, 2006, p. 260). Diagnostic labels focus solely on that which is not working in a person s life (p. 259). There is little focus, if any, on the strengths of the student; rather the focus is on his/her limitations. By focusing on the limitations, the child becomes his or her disability. He/she is viewed as having multiple limitations, when in reality their disability does not define him/her. Teachers who are negatively influenced by labels focus on what they believe the label will limit students from doing and what additional work having that student in class will do to them (the teacher). What these teachers are not focusing on is what these students can do and what means the teachers needs to take in order to help the students be successful. Much literature has been written on the negative effect of labeling students with special needs, and much of that literature focuses on the labels ability to influence general education teachers attitudes about the students prior to even having them in class. A study, conducted by Weisel and Tur-Kaspa (2002), produced findings which indicate teachers knowledge of students labels prior to having them in class affects their attitudes.

27 22 It is important to note not all general education teachers have, or will have, personal experience working with students with special needs in their classrooms. It is also important to note attitudes can still be formed regardless of direct and personal contact to these students. Weisel and Tur-Kaspa (2002) did find in their study that attitudes did in fact vary between those teachers who had direct contact with students with special needs and those teachers who did not. Surprisingly, Weisel and Tur-Kaspa s findings indicated teachers without contact with students with special needs had more positive attitudes than those who were in direct contact with them. Weisel and Tur-Kaspa do make note direct contact may have either positive or negative effects on teachers attitudes toward their students, depending on its structure, quality, intensity, and the degree of reality of prior beliefs (p. 8). For many teachers, beliefs and attitudes about students with special needs are based on fallacies rather than facts and a general misunderstanding of what it means to have special needs. Secondary general education teachers are feeling added pressure under No Child Left Behind to make students proficient as assessed by standardized tests. The literature shows teachers feel students with special needs or have labels take more time to plan for and to teach (Zigmond, Levin, & Laurie, 1985; Weisel & Tur-Kaspa, 2002; Lopez, Edwards, Pedrotti, Prosser, LaRue, Spalitto, & Ulven, 2006). In addition, general education teachers do not believe they will be given additional time or resources to plan for or teach these students effectively (Van Reusen, Soho, & Barker, 2001). This literature supports the hypothesis general education teachers who have more students with special needs in their classroom will have more negative attitudes towards those students.

28 23 Research Question/Hypotheses 4 - Gender As seen above, much research has been done regarding general education teachers attitudes and their relation to training, experience, and contact with students with special needs. Little research has been done, however, regarding general education teachers attitudes in relation to gender. However, one study, conducted by Leyser and Tappendorf (2001) on teachers attitudes towards inclusion, did reveal female teachers had significantly higher scores than males on what was referred to as The Social Growth Factor, indicating a more positive attitude toward the social aspects of inclusion. Female teachers who participated in Lesyer and Tappendorf s study also appeared to make more modifications and accommodations for students with special needs than the male teachers who participated in the study. Because of these results, there is some indirect support available for this finding suggesting that female teachers are more supportive of mainstreaming than male teachers (p.758). Again, while there is not a great deal of literature in this area, based on Lesyer and Tappendorf s study, one could hypothesize general education teachers who are male would have more negative attitudes about having students with special needs in their classroom. Research Questions/Hypotheses 5 and 6 - Curricular Area Taught and Type of Class Taught Currently, there is no research on general education teachers attitudes towards inclusion based on the curricular area taught and the type of class taught (required verses elective). Because of this lack in the literature, the experience of special education teachers was used to form the hypotheses for these two questions. Because Social Studies and Science require students to read and write well, it would stand to reason educators who teach Social Studies or Science will have more negative

29 24 attitudes towards students with special needs than those who teach Math, English, or Physical Education, which are skill based and can be broken down into skill sets if a student is experiencing problems. Students take elective classes based on their interests or passions. In addition, the students may have knowledge about and/or skills in the content of the elective class. However, students have no choice but to take the required courses, which may be viewed as boring or uninteresting. It would then follow, general education teachers who teach the required courses would have more negative attitudes towards working with students with special needs than those who teach elective classes. Summary There is a large amount of literature on general education teachers attitudes towards working with students with special needs. This review of literature focused on several areas. The first area was an overview of the laws and court cases that led up to, or actually mandated the inclusion of students with special needs in the general education classroom. Specifically, the overview reviewed sections of No Child Left Behind (NCLB), the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (EAHCA), the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), and the Pennsylvania Association for Retarded Citizens (PARC) v. Pennsylvania and the Mills v. District of Columbia Board of Education court cases. The literature focused on the role each played in the inclusion of students with special needs in the general education classroom. The second part of this literature review examined current studies on general education teachers attitudes towards inclusion. Specifically, the studies mentioned in the literature review focused on general education teachers attitudes about working with students with special needs in the general education classroom, as it correlated with their

30 25 college special education training, years of teaching experience, the number of students with special needs with whom they work, and gender. The studies presented in the literature review indicated there is correlation between general education teachers attitudes toward inclusion and the number of courses they have had in college on working with students with special needs, their years of teaching experience, the number of students with special needs with whom they work, and their gender. More specifically, the literature regarding general education teachers attitudes towards inclusion and their training indicated more special education training seemed to correlate with more positive attitudes towards inclusion (Bender, Vail and Scott (1995), Hasting and Oakford (2003), Lesyer and Tappendorf (2001), Pernell, McIntyre and Bader (2001), and Van Reusen, Soho, and Barker (2001)). These studies also supported the idea that the amount of training general education teachers have about working with students with special needs correlates with general education teachers attitudes about working with them in the general education classroom. In regard to general education teachers attitudes towards inclusion and years of teaching experience, the literature mentioned indicated more years of teaching experience correlates with more negative attitudes towards inclusion. Thus, fewer years of teaching experience correlates with less negative attitudes towards inclusion. Not surprisingly, the literature made note teachers who have less contact with students with special needs tend to have more positive attitudes about them. In contrast, those teachers who have more direct contact with students with special needs have more negative attitudes towards them. What the research does not show is whether teachers attitudes were affected by more direct contact time with students with special needs, or by more direct

31 26 contact with many students with special needs. The question then lies in whether general education teachers attitudes correlate with the number of students with special needs with whom they work, or the amount of time these teachers have to work with them. As seen in the literature review, there is little data on gender and its correlation to general education teachers attitudes about inclusion. What data was found suggests gender does correlate with teachers attitudes, and female teachers have more positive attitudes towards inclusion than male teachers. Research still needs to be conducted on general education teachers attitudes and how they correlate with the curricular area in which they teach.

32 27 CHAPTER 3. METHODS AND PROCEDURES Introduction The purpose of this study was to examine high school general education teachers attitudes about educating students with special needs in their classrooms and ascertain whether those attitudes were impacted by gender, number of years of teaching experience, curricular area taught, type of classes taught (required or elective), number of students with special needs in the classroom, and if a required course specifically designed for working with students with special needs in college was taken. A new survey instrument titled General Education Teachers Perceptions of Teaching Students with Disabilities, was used to determine general education teachers attitudes towards having students with special needs in the general education classroom. The survey can be found in Appendix A. Participants The population of interest in this research study was high school general education teachers at a random selection of nine participating school districts throughout the state of Iowa. The nine participating high schools were randomly selected using a random numbers table that included all 333 school districts in the state of Iowa that served students in grades Schools districts were located using data sources from the Iowa Department of Education s website. Each school district was provided with a number code and those that did not have grades 9-12 were excluded. In total, there were 333 school districts included in the random selection. Based on a random numbers table, nine school districts were selected for use in this study. Staff information was obtained from each individual school s website,